10. the cooper temple clause . see this through and leave
09. godspeed you black emperor! . yanqui u.x.o.
08. gomez . in our gun
07. the doves . the last broadcast
06. spoon . kill the moonlight
05. sleater-kinney . one beat
04. coldplay . a rush of blood to the head
03. sigur ros . ()
02. neko case . blacklisted
01. and you will know us by the trail of dead . source tags and codes

surprisingly, a disc came out in early january and held the top spot the whole year, despite a new album from sigur ros and a surprise from neko case. hardly a shocking win, though, since source tags and codes is, top to bottom, one of the most complete and crushing and unnerving and fun pieces of work i’ve ever heard. after the first three songs (the best opening right-left-right combination of any cd ever) you’ll be bruised, sold and smoking.

***honourable mentions***

foo fighters . one by one, tami hart . what passed between us, bob mould . livedog98, robert plant . dreamland, the reindeer section . son of evil reindeer